Shinichi knew that he was not supposed to be there. Early on in their friendship, Kyo had told him that he could not ever enter the lower areas of the house. It did not matter what the circumstances were. His mother would be furious, and the small detective could wind up in a very sticky situation. In fact, Kyo told him, if he did not see him at the window, it was better not to come in at all. They ran less a risk of getting caught that way.

Shinichi had had to obey that order all of three times. Once when Kyo's mother had decided to go on a cleaning spree that began in the attic, a second time when Kyo had been told of a doctor's appointment he could not miss, and a third time when the boy's mostly absent father had made an appearance, forcing the redhead to play a good host. Today marked the fourth occasion when the redhead had not shown up at the window to invite his friend in to play.

Yet, something was very different this time around.

There was a sick feeling deep in the pit of Shinichi's stomach. It seemed to twist and bend his insides whenever the thought of leaving came across his mind. Something was wrong, it told him, and he needed to get inside the house as quickly as possible. Otherwise he would quickly come to regret his decision. Besides, when had he ever listened to orders anyway? Not when he could help it, and certainly never when his instincts told him to do otherwise. And right now, those instincts were telling him to break down walls if that was what it took to get inside the quaint little home.

His upbringing screamed against the action. Kyo had told him not to do that, and when had the other ever asked anything of him? Never. All Kyo had ever asked for was the brunette's company and a listening ear. It would be incredibly rude to go against his one wish just because of some stupid feeling.

Still, that stupid feeling made Shinichi open the unlocked attic window, made him quietly sneak into the attic, and made him silently leave its safety cocoon for the second floor. Kyo said that was where his room was and that would be the best place to begin looking for him.

Shinichi told himself that he would not be there very long. Just ten minutes, tops. Just long enough to ensure that the redhead was okay. Just long enough to assuage the feeling in his stomach and ease his mind. Then the proper apologies would be made, followed by a quick farewell, and a promise to return the next day. Shinichi just needed to see Kyo. He needed to make sure that nothing bad had happened. He just needed some reassurance.

There were a total of five doors on the second floor; the young child was quick to learn. So far he had only checked four of them out. Two belonged to bedrooms, one belonged to a bathroom, and one was attached to a very cramped closet filled with funny looking toys and clothes. The closet was the only thing had made him pause in his frantic search for his best friend. The toys inside all had very deformed looking cats drawn on of them, the clothes having stitches of the creature haphazardly sewn on, falling or otherwise being brought to their demise. Shinichi could only look at them for a total of three minutes before he scoffed and closed the door. Someone in the house had a very disturbing relationship with the animal.

When he was down to the last room, Shinichi had all but given up hope of finding his friend. Other than the occasional rattle of the windows, the house was absolutely silent. What normal household, complete with one rambunctious child, was ever this quiet? Perhaps the family had gone out somewhere? Kyo couldn't have possibly stayed in the house at all hours of the day. He would have had to go outside eventually, and no doubt his parents had noticed the unusual amount of time he had recently spent in the attic. Maybe they had taken him out somewhere to get him out of the house? It was plausible.

The door opened before he had time to stop himself, and just to say he had, he took a quick peek inside. To his shock, there was Kyo lying still in his bed. Shinichi frowned and stepped closer into the room, cautiously looking around for anyone who might be hiding somewhere in the immediate vicinity. The coast was clear, and once he was sure of it he made a beeline for the bed.

Kyo opened one eye when he felt the mattress dip next to him. "Didn't I tell you not to come in here when I didn't show up at the window?"

Shinichi nodded.

"Thanks for paying attention."

The brunette ignored the slight attitude. On any other day that comment might have hurt, but the detective could tell that Kyo was not at 100%. If anything, he looked like he might keel over at any second. His breaths were short and ragged, seeming as though his lungs were rebelling against him with a selfish desire to force him to stop breathing all together. There was sweat on his brow, even though the day was one of the chilliest they had had all month, and with every slight breath another bead rolled off onto the mattress from the side of his head. It was obvious from the boy's constant shifting that he was uncomfortable. His body was shaking slightly, not really shivering, and he struggled not to curl into himself. Kyo looked as though he was in pain and Shinichi didn't know what to do about the situation.

So he figured it was best to ask. "What's wrong?"

Kyo tried to laugh a little. "I'm sick. Wasn't that obvious, detective?" He coughed, and after a minute he tearfully looked up at the brunette. "I'm sorry, that was rude. I don't mean to be-"

"Shhh." Shinichi whispered gently, moving aside damp hair from the other's face. "You don't feel good. It's okay to get a little mad when you're sick. Don't apologize. Just tell me where it hurts."

"Everywhere," Kyo coughed again. This time he could not help but curl onto his side.

Shinichi adjusted his position on the bed, placing his friend's head on his lap and running a hand gently through the bright orange locks. "Does your head hurt?"

Kyo nodded. "And I keep sweating, even though it's supposed to be freezing in here."

It should have been freezing in that room given the current temperature outside and the other rooms in the house. But for some reason, now that the brunette stopped to think about it, the room felt very warm. Too warm actually. Far too hot for anybody to be properly comfortable in. That was a problem. "What about your throat? Your voice sounds a little raspy."

"It is." The child said miserably. "I've been coughing all night."

No wonder he seemed so exhausted. He must not have been able to sleep if he kept nearly hacking up a lung every few minutes. "Well, are you hungry, thirsty maybe?"

Kyo had to think about it for a moment. "I tried eating something this morning, but I just threw it back up again. And I guess I'm a little thirsty, but I'm too tired to get up."

That left one very important question up in the air. "Where's your mom? Why isn't she taking care of you?"

Kyo did manage to laugh just then. It still sounded raspy, and rather painful, so how he was able to pull the action off was a miracle in and of itself at the moment. "She's gone."

Shinichi frowned. "What do you mean gone?"

"She left me here after breakfast. She won't be back for a few days."

Shinichi could hardly believe what he was hearing. "What? How could she leave you here by yourself when you're like this?"

Kyo shrugged. "She probably doesn't even know I'm by myself."

All that answer did was make the detective even more confused. "I don't understand."

Kyo hummed in response. "I didn't think you would. Do you remember when we first met, and I told you that my mom never wanted me to have friends?"

Shinichi nodded.

"Everyone keeps telling me that it's because she loves me too much. If that's true, then my dad is the complete opposite. He doesn't love me at all."

The brunette felt a lump appear in his throat, and suddenly it was very hard to swallow.

"My father would prefer for me to go out of the house, to make terrible friends, and never come back. He wishes I didn't exist, and sometimes I think he just wants me to die."

The very thought of such a thing made Shinichi want to cry. If Kyo died, if he had never been, what kind of world would that have been for Shinichi? He didn't want to know, didn't want to think about it. The very possibility made him feel sick.

"So he told mom that she shouldn't be around me when I'm sick. She'd catch it too. He promised he'd take care of me and let her know when I'm better. He left about twenty minutes after she did."

Shinichi's blood was boiling. So those were the man's intentions? He was going to leave his child in a house, by himself, when he could barely move, and come back later to discover the boy dead? Then he would probably pretend to play the grieving father and husband, showing supposed 'strength' by moving on from his loss quicker than anyone imagined. Oh, he wasn't going to get away with this. Shinichi would see to that the second he returned home. For now, he had to see to more important matters.

"How long will he be gone?"

Kyo shrugged. "A couple of days, I think. I don't remember."

That was good enough for Shinichi. "Do you guys have a phone?"

"In the kitchen." Red eyes curiously looked up to a pair of deep sea blue irises. "Why?"

Shinichi smiled reassuringly. "I just need to make a quick phone call. Will you be alright by yourself for a few minutes?"

Kyo nodded tiredly. "Sure."

"Yes mother, yes mother, yes mother!" Shinichi could hardly keep his voice calm. Honestly, his mother had to pick now of all times to ask a million questions about his whereabouts? She never did this the dozens of times her son ran off to play with a kid in an attic. Granted, she didn't know that her son was even playing in an attic to begin with, but that was beside the point.

"Are you sure your friends parents are going to be alright with this? It seems awfully last minute, and I don't even know what you'll be doing over there."

Shinichi tried not to sigh. "Yes mother, they agreed. My friend and I are only going to play in the house. Maybe explore his attic for ghosts." Sure, make the endeavor sound childish, that'll fool her.

"You don't even have a spare change of clothes. Why don't you come home, grab a few things, and I'll drive you back?"

Not an option. "I'll be fine! My friend and I are about the same size, so he can lend me some clothes. And his bed is big enough for the two of us, so I won't have any problems when it's time to go to sleep. Honestly, you and dad don't have to worry."

"Alright, Shin-Chan. Just make sure to remember your manners and be a good house guest. When should I pick you up?"

Again, not an option. "You don't have to. I'll come home when we're done."

"Shin-Chan, I'm not going to let you walk home by yourself after not seeing you for two days."

No, he figured she wouldn't. That would make things too easy. So he would have to stoop a bit lower to get what he wanted. "Mom! Stop embarrassing me in front of my friends! I'm not a little kid anymore!"

She laughed at him. It was one those infuriating mother laughs that signaled the silliness of whatever child was closest. Normally it was annoying to Shinichi, who never did anything to warrant it. However, it was normally a clear sign that he was going to get what he wanted if he held back on having a temper tantrum.

"Alright, Shin-Chan, you win. I'll let you have your way just this once. But the next time you have a sleepover, you have to let me know all the details beforehand. Okay?"

Shinichi could barely contain his excitement as he hurriedly rushed his mother off the phone. He was lucky enough to get away with such a blatant lie on such short notice. Yukiko was not as book smart as her husband was, but she was every bit as cunning and clever as her male counterpart. Especially when it came to her son. Sometimes she was able to catch her child in a lie before it even had time to form on the tip of his tongue. It was a hassle trying to one up her, as it would normally take days of planning and perfecting whatever acting genes his mother had passed on, and Shinichi had his suspicions on why he had been able to do so this easily this time around, but he would think about that later.

He set the phone back down on the receiver and jumped off of the chair he had used to reach it. His eyes then scanned the kitchen. Cupboards, cabinets, a fridge, a fairly large sink area with a cutting board, and various other cooking measurement tools that every house maker would have on standby met his eyes. Everything about the room was as neat and as well put together as any televised kitchen could hope to be. The room was most likely often functioning as a well oiled food making machine. Kyo's mother was probably one of those women who had just about every obscure food item on hand just in the event that it would someday come in handy. In fact, the detective was counting on that.

One f the things Shinichi had been able to weasel out of his mother before he had hung up was a recipe for miso soup. Yukiko would always serve it to her boys when one of them ended up sick in bed. It was usually enough to do the trick and get them back into action. However, when Shinichi had done a quick search of the shelves he could easily reach, there didn't seem to be anything he could whip up instantly. In fact, as he looked through the lower levels of the fridge, he realized that there wasn't anything instant anywhere. The Sohma's apparently had to make everything from scratch. It wasn't too much of a problem for Shinichi, except he didn't have the instructions to make the soup dedicated to memory.

With them now in his hand, he was sure he could come up with something decent. He was not leaving that kitchen until he did.

It had taken the better part of the hour, but Shinichi had finally managed to make an edible batch of miso soup. It was nowhere near as good as his mother's was, but it would do for now. Though, as soon as he got back to his house he was going to spend quite a few hours, several times a week, practicing his culinary skills. The ones he had now left much to be desired.

For the moment he simply placed a soup filled bowl on a tray, added on a glass of cranberry juice, and carefully made his way up the stairs back to Kyo's room. He wasn't surprised to see the cat dozing off in his bed, though he was slightly shocked to see that the other had managed to sit up by himself.

Kyo smiled when he caught sight of the brunette, suddenly looking a bit more alert than he had a few seconds ago. "I was afraid you got lost down there."

His voice was still raspy, but it seemed like the redhead could go a few minutes without coughing. That was definitely an improvement. "Are you feeling any better?"

Kyo nodded and patted the spot next to him on the bed. "Sleep helps." He looked on curiously as Shinichi did his best to get up onto the bed without spilling anything on the tray. Kyo had to lend him a hand before the boy was able to sit down comfortably. "What's all this for?"

Shinichi set the tray on his friend's lap. "It's for you."

Kyo looked down at the food and drink. "You made this for me?"

The detective nodded. "My mom usually gives me this same meal whenever I feel sick. Well, she doesn't give me cranberry juice, she makes me tea with lemon, but you didn't have that in your kitchen. The only tea you had was black."

Kyo nodded. "That's what my mom gives me whenever I'm sick. That and some chicken soup."

Shinichi blushed. "So, this was wrong then?" It occurred to him that, despite his wide range of knowledge on a wide variety of subjects, medicine had been carelessly overlooked. He knew next to nothing about the way a human would be treated if they were ill. He just knew the bare bones of first aid and common medical practices. Meaning that he had just showed his friend that he was not nearly as smart as he claimed to be. It was nearly humiliating.

But Kyo smiled and shook his head. "It's not wrong, just different."

Shinichi wasn't sure if 'different' was just a very polite way of saying it was 'wrong', but he kept his mouth shut as his friend took that first tentative bite.

The boy seemed surprisingly pleased with the meal. He gave a pleasant little hum, and then went back for a few more spoonfuls before speaking again. "It's good."

Shinichi frowned at the surprised tone. "You sound so shocked."

"I don't like miso. Not usually."

The detective's face was on fire in an instant. "You don't?" At that moment Shinichi sincerely wanted to crawl into a deep hole and never come out again. Some genius he was. He should have been smart enough to ask for the boy's preferences before making out a fool out of himself by cooking something that Kyo wouldn't have liked.

But once again the redhead reassured him with a smile. "I shouldn't be surprised though. Any time I think I know something, you turn my world around in the coolest of ways." He slurped up another spoonful of soup. "I guess if I ever said I hated miso, I was lying."

That did not remove the flush from Shinichi's face. "Are you mad?"

Kyo blinked. "Why would I be mad?"

Because he had been fed a food he despised when he was feeling about as well as a dog that had been kicked when it was already on the ground. "I should have asked you what you wanted. I just assumed…but, I'm sorry."

The brunette was surprised when a hand gently patted him on the top of his head. Blues eyes looked up to see Kyo smiling at him with all the warmth that the sun could ever hope to offer. Right then, Shinichi would have volunteered to be humiliated a hundred times over for the same stupid mistakes if he could somehow immortalize that expression.

"I don't think there's anything you could do to make me stay mad at you for very long." The sick boy told him. "Especially not something as sweet as this."

It didn't seem all that sweet to Shinichi. Sweet would have been getting things right the first time. "But-"

Kyo placed a finger atop his friend's lips. "You made me food, brought me a drink, and voluntarily decided to take care of me despite my bad attitude. My own parent's won't even do that much and it's their job."

Shinichi could feel his face heating up again. And just when he had managed to force it away too. "You're too nice."

Kyo shook his head after another bite. "You're just too hard on yourself. It can be cute, but I like it better when you think you know everything."

The brunette managed a glare. "I do not think I know it all."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Yes you do." He finished off the rest of the soup in one long satisfying gulp. After taking another sip of his juice, he turned his full attention back to the brunette sitting next to him. It's okay though. Most of the time, I think you know everything too."

Now there was a very pronounced pout. "You're mean."

Kyo chuckled. "Cheer up! I just gave you a compliment."

"It's more like half a compliment with a good dose of underlying insults."

The other boy shrugged. His glass soon joined the empty bowl.

Shinichi focused his attention on it. "Did you like the drink at least? I didn't think it would be in your fridge if you didn't." Then again, assuming things was apparently not his greatest forte.

"I do." Kyo said to the detective's relief. "I just don't get to drink it often."

"Why not?"

"My mom only keeps it around for my father when he's here for more than a few hours."

Shinichi's blood suddenly ran cold at the mere mention of Kyo's father. Shinichi had never met the man, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the older Sohma was one of the lowest forms of life on earth. After all, what kind of real man left their child sick and unable to care for himself? He shouldn't have ever been created, in Shinichi's humble opinion, and had he not donated half of Kyo's DNA, the brunette would have wished that such a person had never even existed.

"I'm changing the subject now." The detective said blandly, just a hint of frustration lacing his voice.

Kyo laughed in response. "Good idea. What do you want to talk about?"

"How about what we're going to do for my visit?"

The redhead frowned. "I can't do much when I'm sick. We could read something, or draw maybe?"

Shinichi smiled brightly. "Whatever you want to do is fine. We'll find something to amuse us for the next two days."

"Two days?" Kyo's eyes went wide. "You're…you…"

Shinichi kissed the other's forehead. "I won't leave you here by yourself when you're not well. I'll stay with you so you don't get lonely."

And as they had done so many times before, they embraced so tightly it could have hurt, yet so earnestly all they could do was smile.

Shinichi did not know all the details that led him to the Sohma home, whether he had actually take that train or had just run there, but when he showed up at the front door, he was panting and so out of breath that Tohru nearly called an ambulance.

"I'm okay," He assured her once he was able to speak. Admittedly, it wasn't until he was handed about three glasses of water and allowed just as many minutes to catch his breath. "I'm just a little tired." He looked up to the girl in front of him. "Is he alright?"

She nodded slowly. "He finally fell asleep a little while ago. He still has a fever, but he's not screaming out in pain."

That was a relief. "Can I see him?"

Tohru, bless the girl, wasted no time in taking the detective to his bedridden friend. Silently as a mouse, gently as a dove, Shinichi walked over to the side of his best friend's bed. Kyo was sweating, shifting, mumbling incoherently from time to time. Though not in pain, he seemed uneasy with the atmosphere around him. Without thinking, Shinichi ran a hand over the sleeping boy's forehead, shifting aside damp hair and wiping his cool hand over a heated brow. Kyo calmed almost instantly.

Tohru relaxed considerably. "It's like he knows you're here."

Shinichi smiled. "I'm glad I could bring him some comfort." He then turned to the girl beside him, eyes determined and pleading all at the same time. "Will you help me with something? I think it might be enough to perk him right up."

She nodded vigorously. "Of course. What is it you need?"

"Ingredients for miso soup, and some cranberry juice."

Authors Note: Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. May your days be so merry and your nights so star bright. And if you all forgive my poor attempts at poetry, here's your new chapter to hopefully keep you all merry.

Until next time!